EARTH SYSTEMS, ENVIRONMENT & CONSERVATION THROUGH MOVEMENT

 

Georgia Standards

 

South Carolina Standards

 

Key Vocabulary

 

Materials

• Dance/piece of choreography to watch (see examples in “Additional Resources”)
• Music
• Poetry/text (optional)

 

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

• Using vocabulary from the current unit of study in science, ask students to show a movement to represent a vocabulary word or idea.  Ask students to explain why they chose their movement and how/why that movement would represent the definition/idea to an audience.
• Tell students that choreographers are like authors except they don't use words and pictures to help the audience understand what they are communicating.  
• Instead, they use their bodies and movement to teach the audience about the concept.  
• Creating choreography about science is just like an author writing an informational text; our dance must inform the audience through movement.

 

Work Session

• Watch a piece of choreography about an earth system or the environment/conservation (see “Additional Resources”).
• Discuss choreographic choices/movements used to express thoughts and ideas to the audience.
  • Prompt students to make shapes with their bodies to express the words that they hear, such as tree, rock, circle, etc.
  • Next, have students explore pathways. Tell students that pathways are the route that a dancer's movement takes through space. Ask students to begin traveling through the room, moving from place to place, as you prompt them with different body shapes. Encourage students to think about how they can link their movements together fluidly.
  • Ask students to freeze in place. Bring students’ attention to levels (high, mid, low) with movements such as stretching up high and moving on tiptoes, crouching in a small ball close to the floor, and bouncing in place at a middle level. Say words such as river, mountain, and valley. Ask students to explore body shapes at the level that they think best expresses that idea.
  • Now, direct students to explore energy variations with different movement qualities such as sharp movements–quick, precise actions like punches or snaps, and smooth movements–slow, flowing actions like waves or circles with arms. Prompt students with weather-related words like hail, ice, sunshine, etc.
• Lead students in a movement exercise to introduce them to the following dance terms: Levels, shape, tempo, energy, and pathways. 
• Look at the dance performance again. Ask students where they see examples of these elements in the choreography. Ask students what the choreographer communicated by using the concept. 
• Tell students that they now will explore movement ideas to represent scientific concepts.
  • As a class, choreograph a movement phrase to show a concept, such as water pollution. Ask students to think about what shapes they should make with their bodies? What pathways? What type of energy? Levels?
  • Allow time for students to brainstorm. Create and perform the movement phrase as a class.
• Ask students to share a term from the unit, such as water pollution. 
• Arrange students into small groups. Assign each group a topic related to the current unit of study in science.
• Tell students that they will be creating choreography about their assigned topic. Remind students that as choreographers, it is their job to communicate a concept through movement. 
• Remind students that choreographers use levels, shape, tempo, energy, and pathways intentionally to communicate with the audience. Ask students to select one or two that they will use in their choreography. 
• Tell students that their choreography must have at least three movements showing a beginning, middle, and end.
• Circulate the room to work with students as they create their choreography.
• Have students share their choreography with the class. 
• The audience members should describe what they observed in the group’s choreography using both science and dance vocabulary.
• Ask students to explain how the choreography choices contributed to the meaning of the dance.

 

Closing Reflection

• Using the elements of dance as a guide, ask students how their choreographic choices helped the audience understand the content. This can be a written or oral reflection.

 

 

Assessments

Formative

Teacher will assess students by asking students about their choreographic choices and how they aid in the audience's understanding of the scientific concept.

 

Summative

CHECKLIST

• Choreography:
• Students can create choreography that has a beginning, middle, and end. 
• Students can create choreography that correctly demonstrates scientific concepts and vocabulary.
• Students can intentionally use one or two of the elements of dance to communicate their scientific concept.
• Audience: 
• Students can discuss the performances of the other groups and identify how movements demonstrate scientific concepts and vocabulary.

 

*This assessment can be done as a class discussion or a written assignment.

 

DIFFERENTIATION 

Accelerated:  Increase the expectations of the full choreographic work. Each part (beginning/middle/end) contains more than one movement idea. Have students research an environmental concern and create a choreographic work to demonstrate its causes and effects. Remedial: Have students create choreography for just one vocabulary word from the unit of study.

 

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Julia Roberts is Mother Nature Prince Ea's Dear Future Generations: Sorry Types of weather choreography:  Dance & Science: 'Weather' (2012) – Lucy Guerin Environmental/conservation choreography: Fighting Climate Change with Dance | KQED Arts WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY | Go Green - Save Trees | Stop pollution | Dance | Tapperz Dance Skool

 

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Ideas contributed by: Melissa Joy

Revised and copyright:  July 2024 @ ArtsNOW